There's been a flurry of housing policy announcements in recent years, but much of it is less than meets the eye. In a new report for @bcpolicy.bsky.social, I outline why BC’s housing crisis and shortage is solvable—and key structural changes we still urgently need. bcpolicy.ca/housing-cris...

Marco's article should be required reading for every rapid transit discussion in #yyj. As examples like Toronto and San Francisco show, we should be honest about how weight we give to bringing back the nostalgia of streetcars, versus enticing more people to stop driving to or from the Westshore.

Speed is one of the most important characteristics for higher order transit, because it directly translates to better access for transit users. Designing transit to sacrifice speed (and thus access) is tantamount to intentionally sabotaging that transit service from achieving its best potential.

No such thing as an "Orphan Lot" any more. Single stair stacked flats can fit on small lots (like this 50x70 corner lot). This could be 12 small 1Br, or six family size flats. Just allow 50% lot coverage and 3FSR and away you go.

It's so useful that I can now point at Finch West as I say: "will this be faster than the bus?" cheknews.ca/first-nation...

For example, Kelowna did this work years ago and found that the dense core brought in a lot more tax revenue than it cost in infrastructure while the low density suburbs were a drag on city finances

I really want to emphasize that TSP isnt just a setting or some parameters. Sometimes helping buses is adding detection on the side street so you dont have to recall phases which allows you to utilize more flexible signal operation.

Your daily reminder that the most effective transit priority strategy at intersection is... not having an intersection at all.

I dont think we've been challenged to think about signals from a transit perspective. You have to find the handful of engineers who work on signals, have a stake in transit operations, and are willing to try new things.

See, I think so many of our problems in North America re transit come down to ignoring that speed is REALLY important. I *don't* think its hard to believe that *getting places quickly* is peoples top priority! This is especially true because most people have access to a car!

I wrote a thing. Build trams, but build them well. Understanding what tramways are, what they do best and how to employ them. open.substack.com/pub/marcochi...

“[En France] un tramway 10 fois moins cher qu’à Québec ou à Montréal”

The Transit Death Spiral is something that desperately needs to be avoided, but can be easily kickstarted during budget crunches. Stagnant budgets are actively damaging to transit service. As an extension to this video, my thoughts on "schedule maintenance": bettercolumbia.ca/2025/12/02/f...

Oak Bay has voted down yet another housing proposal 😞 As the applicant put it, “Uplands is not a museum… it is an early 20th century idea conceived in a cooler, much less crowded world.” It’s time for choices that reflect today’s reality, not 1920’s nostalgia.

Blasting past rush hour traffic on the completed portion of Dufferin RapidTO (up to Dundas)

Could Dawson Creek, BC eliminate their transit network? If you know anyone up there, please tell them to reach out to city council. www.cjdctv.com/news/article...

“Homes for All” is the theme of this year’s Gingerbread Showcase Lots of great housing messages and examples of homes that should be legal everything Support our friends at Habitat for Humanity www.habitatvictoria....

While Reece is right that articulated trolleybuses could work for a number of routes in Victoria, the most pressing corridor for higher-order transit (Downtown to Westshore) is unfortunately not a great candidate. Why? See bettercolumbia.ca/2025/11/13/n... or 🧵⤵️

www.bctransit.com/wp-content/u... TransLink had 11% weekday bus overcrowding in 2024, and they rolled out the biggest bus expansion since 2018. Victoria had 8% weekday bus overcrowding in 2024, and our expansion funding was cut to the point where it doesn't even pay for schedule maintenance. 🙃

Grateful to receive support for Bill M216 from Homes for Living YYJ. A community housing advocacy group. “To meet affordability goals, we must ensure that it is faster and easier to build dense infill housing rather than suburban sprawl.” #bcpoli #Nanaimo #Lantzville #Victoriabc

Our letter to BC MLAs in support of @georgeandersonbc.bsky.social's private members' bill to streamline housing approvals.

We need your help to tell transit commissioners that airport service should come alongside all-day 71 service, which would give Sidney residents and ferry riders an all-day direct downtown connection. Transit doesn't have to be zero-sum. See the proposal: www.bctransit.com/wp-content/u...

We're happy to announce that we're looking for a volunteer to lead our advocacy efforts for the TTC Streetcar network. Our streetcars are some of the slowest in the world, and on time performance was just 61% last month. As our streetcar lead, you will have the responsibility of: 1/3

Without fanfare, the BC Ministry of Transportation released a report that makes a strong case for a Westshore to Victoria rail line, writes Sam Holland

Transit rider @nottaylorx.bsky.social shared this video of a side-by-side comparison of a tram in Amsterdam and a streetcar in Toronto departing a stop. Guess which one has fully active signal priority? A phase before left-turning cars?

"[T]here have been 33 studies on Ambleside in the past 79 years. There has been such great engagement that I think it's disrespectful to those that gave their input to not push this forward.” Good pushback to West Van mayor from both province & a local BIA voice. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Speeding up buses along Kingsway will have an outsized benefit for the network—but Vancouver and TransLink can do better than two minutes of time savings per trip, argues Ben Chang

Did you know that when Mount Dennis GO opens this Sunday. It'll be 3x faster to get to Union Station than it currently takes. The fastest trips today take around 45 minutes, on Sunday it'll take just 13 minutes. This is the power of regional rail.

Municipal election year is coming up. Stay tuned for a lot of things coming from HFL.

@ohtheurbanity.bsky.social's experience here shows a gap not many think about: so many folks in the CRD have the same problem taking transit from home or to work. That includes people who work at the airport and its business park! The Montreal comparison is apt because it does have night service.

In February 1972, Bologna conducted a cordon survey of cars entering the area inside the ring boulevard. It's challenging to compare data across all entry points, but here's how the numbers for six selected access points look: 1972 vs 2022. That's quite the reduction 📉

this was unthinkable a few years ago, so BC requiring munis to zone for 20-year housing need is having an impact But something is clearly wrong if: a) apartments and dense townhouses are still generally illegal b) this upzoning is sufficient for 20-year housing demand c) UVic still needs a rezoning

BC Transit is looking for input on the new Regional Transit Plan! engage.bctransit.com/victoria-reg... Want some ideas on what feedback to give? Check out our guide: bettertransityyj.ca/2025/10/12/s...

There's the usual discussion about using BRT as a proof of concept for trains, but it's too bad we're not doing kicking cars off of Douglas, or even median bus lanes (Draft design for Douglas below) 1/x

Join us next Thursday the 16th at 6pm for a sunset bike ride along the waterfront! Everyone welcome, we'll be talking about public transportation while enjoying active transportation 🚲🚌

Interestingly, the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, who had previously opposed the infrastructure, eventually reversed their position and became one of the city’s most vocal cycling proponents—calling protected bike lanes “the way of the future” and a “win–win–win for all users”.

The frequent serious accidents on this bottleneck demonstrate every time why we need proper grade separated transport Westshore -> Uptown -> Downtown.

Oak Bay usually flies under the radar, despite their very central location next to UVic. Lots of very interesting (and sometimes frustrating) land use and housing changes in this OCP, so feedback will be extra important! bsky.app/profile/home...

Saanich is hosting two in-person open houses on the updated Shelbourne Valley Plan, including important plans for new housing and stronger, more connected communities. + You can still have your voice heard on housing & community planning through the online survey 🙂 hello.saanich.ca/en/projects/...

So, here's our vision for the 'New Vancouver Special': Existing owners redevelop their lot, building 6 "family size" flats, and keeping 2 for themselves 4 additional families buy in as co-developers City provides "outright" zoning so the permit can be had in the same timeline as a house

Meanwhile for Douglas St in Downtown Victoria, with over 60 buses per direction per hour during peaks, it's taken a decade for planning work to actually start, a year for a lackluster 10%-conceptual design to show up, and likely will take years longer for anything to happen. We can do better.

🚨 Have your say! 🚨 The Shelbourne Valley Action Plan survey is open until Oct. 13. This is your chance to weigh in on how Saanich plans for housing, transportation, and livability along Shelbourne. 👉 Take the survey here: bit.ly/3KgcUtE

Time to fill out the survey for the Shelbourne Valley Action Plan. Slightly improved from the last one, but still mostly ineffective since it doubles down on discretionary approvals instead of proactive planning Survey open to Oct 13: hello.saanich.ca/en/...

So glad to be featured in @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social excellent video! High costs in Canada have been accepted as an inevitability - as projects are descoped & cancelled. ION & REM show that another way is possible… …given the humility to abandon our Anglo roots & learn from global best practice.

We've been campaigning to get people to fill out TransLink's survey about BRT and we're down to the last 29 hours before it closes! Many thanks to @rmtransit.bsky.social for sharing our cute little video with his 340k subscribers!!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Tu...

$22 billion for one light rail line? We can't keep accepting transit cost escalation as inevitable.

It's kinda crazy that the government went to the trouble of pissing off half their coalition to push through major project streamlining legislation (citing the need to build schools faster), but schools still need to get a rezoning from council This seems like such low-hanging fruit lol

Progressive crits of “urbanism” can miss the specificity of Canada’s urban history. The big cities 1950-1975 built tons of apartments; that *did* help keep them affordable. Suburban flight was not the whole story. Not even close. iwouldprefernotto.substack.com/p/cities-are...

Once again tapping the "BC Housing should stop voluntarily following local zoning codes" sign This isn't even a question of changing laws, BC Housing is already exempt from zoning. The province would save itself a lot of headaches if it stopped tieing one hand behind its back